


Endurance

by SnowWolf5552



Series: Original Works [4]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, F/M, Gen, Horror Elements, Male Nurse, Male-Female Friendship, Near Death Experiences, Original Character Death(s), Prompt Fill, Survival, background sex, hypothetical situation, idk what im doing exactly, planes, possible illogical things, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 17:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10813620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowWolf5552/pseuds/SnowWolf5552
Summary: A plane crashes on a remote, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Nothing goes as planned and everything is a mess.





	Endurance

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this like, two months ago, and just got finished with it. It's the longest thing I've written in one whole 'chapter'.

The plane rattled under Erin's feet as the aircraft hit turbulence for the third time in a row, making her struggle not to scrabble at the armrests. Her twin brother Eric wasn't here and thus was unable to calm her. She shifted anxiously and looked around.

The other passengers looked as disgruntled and uncomfortable as she felt. The thunder outside rumbled as lightning lit up her window. Something hit the plane, making it shake; she looked out the window, seeing smoke billow up from the motor. Oxygen masks were deployed and Erin quickly grabbed hers, putting it on.

A cacophony of voices and thunder surrounded her ears. She heard someone say "We're going down!" and a small child scream in terror. The plane split down the middle as they spiraled down, out of control. Erin gripped her seat, eyes wide.

 _It looks like there's an island below us,_  she realized as the plane hurtled towards the ground, struggling to keep her mind clear. Without warning, the section of the aircraft slammed into the ground and Erin's vision went blurry. There was a sensation of spinning, then grinding to a halt. There was a grinding sound so high-pitched Erin nearly mistook it for someone's screeching.

For a moment, there was absolute silence except. No one spoke or moved. Then, there was a flurry of movement in her vision as people ripped off their masks and clambered out. Erin slowly pulled off her own mask as her sight cleared. Both people to her left were dead, and nearly everyone to her right.

She shakily stood up and wobbled several feet before tripping over someone's backpack. Erin stood up again, using chairs as a brace to get to what she could see was a first aid kit on the wall. A herd of people was outside, scattering to the four winds, even though it was raining.

All Erin wanted was some damn aspirin.

She fumbled with the clasp as she opened the box, spotting her messenger bag among the strewn luggage. The redhead grabbed the bag, emptied whatever she didn't need or was too heavy (a history textbook, two fiction books, and some knickknacks) and put whatever she could find that was useful in it. Everything from the first aid kit, a fire ax (which she carried), and some food she ...ahem, /found/ amongst the various suitcases.

Within the hour, the rain lessened and soon let up. A handful of other survivors had come back to the plane. They'd turned it up, searching for food, fresh water, and anything else. The group had distributed peanuts, water bottles, and granola bars among themselves, waiting until the rain stopped.

"How about we introduce ourselves later?" Erin suggested as they searched the immediate area. "I'll start," she offered. The other five agreed to the plan. They gathered anything burnable and moved a considerable distance away from the plane.

A fire was lit and makeshift chairs gathered. Erin glanced around the circle - seven in total, including her. They all looked to her, one by one. "Ah, right," she said, shifting in her seat. "I'm Erin Greene. I'm from America - I was traveling to Australia to study abroad. I'm a hobbyist writer and outdoorswoman," The young woman smiled briefly and gestured to the man at her right.

"Quinten Smith," he began stiffly. "American, nurse," Quentin made an abortive movement to the bubbly blonde to his right.

"Kia Brown," the woman said brightly, beaming. "I'm American, too, and an electrition and mechanic, but I'm traveling to Australia to model,"

"Jasper Ashworth," the next man grinned, brushing his dark hair from his eyes. "I'm Canadian. I was going to Australia to visit my aunt," Thus, the circle continued; a motley group of Mexicans, Canadians, Americans, and Australians.

She fell asleep on her stomach, as she usually did. Nightmares flared across her mind, full of beasts made from cloud and lightning and thunder, scaring her so much that she actually awoke. Erin forced herself to take several deep, calming breaths. She managed to find sleep once more, drifting away.

The next morning, the group split in two. One would stay at the back of the plane, and the rest would try to find the front of the plane.

In the end, it was Erin, Jasper, Kia, and Quentin traveling across the island. They headed northward, where they'd seen the plane fall, relative to where they'd come to a stop.

It took a day and a half before they actually got there. Kia was whining the entire time before Quinten shut her up with an "If you want to wander off into the woods and die a cold, miserable death, that's your problem."

The front of the plane was mostly smoking ruins. The cockpit was relatively untouched compared to the rest of it, so they climbed through ash and blackened metal and charred bodies to the top of the plane. The pilot was gone, but the copilot had a smattering of glass in his throat and face; where he had gone and if he was still alive Erin could not guess.

Kia pushed through the group to the front, rooting around in a box. She pulled out a smaller box, but Erin quickly realized that it was actually a radio of some sort. She and Jasper quickly began to scavenge what they could. Erin tuned out Kia's mayday call, leaving the cockpit; there wasn't enough space for four people.

She looked for food and medical supplies, which wasn't there. The first aid kit was empty and any food was gone. Either it had burned up or was taken by survivors. Jasper quickly burst from the cockpit, followed by Kia and Quinten. "We've got the Coast Guard coming to find us," he crowed, fistpumping in victory.

"That's great!" Erin replied, smiling. "We should get back to the others and tell them the news," With that, she turned around and tried to ignore the crispy bodies.

It took another day to reach their camp. The group they'd left behind, which numbered eight or less, including a pre-teen and younger child, had set up a large tent. "We only had enough materials for one," said a man to Quentin. "So we're all going to have to sleep in one place,"

Settling in took less than an hour. Erin was lulled to sleep by the sound of her fellow survivors' breathing. That night, she had no nightmares.

* * *

A week passed. The group had moved to a spot near the beach, where they built a signal fire. They ate sparingly, making sure to boil water before drinking it, and careful not to get rid of... waste in the drinking water or too close to the camp.

Erin watched the two children make a sandcastle, a smile faint on her lips. Suddenly, the sentry, a spry young man named Wyatt, ran up to her, panting. "I saw the Guard," he said. "They look like they might arrive within the hour if it doesn't storm too badly," Erin nodded and patted his back.

"I see," she told him. "You can go back now," She looked up to the sky, worrying at her lip. Thick, black thunderheads loomed overhead, thundering. Lightning cracked inside it, making Erin swallow nervously. An older woman, the mother of the two children, ushered them back into the small houses they'd build into the sand.

She spotted Kia and Jasper side by side, starting out over the ocean. It began to rain lightly when she saw the two helicopters, and the ship, which was further away. They were closer to the storm and it showed. One chopper was struck by lightning - it spun briefly, regained control, but then crash landed into the ocean, relatively close to shore. The other helicopter made it, but barely.

It landed on the beach, destroying the half-made sandcastle. The woman, followed by her two children, hurried out and climbed on top of it. Kia and Jasper followed, eager to get out.

"We'll come back for the rest of you after the storm," the Guard shouted. She nodded affirmation and he pulled himself into the chopper. Quentin and the rest stood in a group, watching the chopper become smaller and smaller on the horizon. Then, the lightning struck again.

Quentin swore, as did several of the others. Erin could only watch in horror as the chopper spun downwards into the treacherous waters. She saw the ship, red and white, disappear behind the edge of the sky. A sinking feeling swallowed her and she fell to her knees.

"They're gone," she whispered. "We're never getting off this island," With that, Erin promptly burst into tears.

Quentin pulled her off the ground and wrapped her tightly in a near painful embrace. "I bet they're just going to get more help," he told her. "It's not our fault, nor our fault, that the area is so stormy," He stroked her hair gently to calm her, then let her go. "We'll be fine," he promised.

She swallowed, wrapping her arms around herself. "If you say so," she muttered.

* * *

A month passed. Through trial and error, the remaining survivors learned how to hunt, how to cook, and how to not get poisoned. One man ate a poisonous mushroom - they build him a small raft and gave him a burial at sea. It seemed most fitting.

Thus the group was down to six - three men and three women. Everyone was equal, as if they didn't do anything, they wouldn't make it. Erin learned how to make nets and spears and makeshift fishing poles. Quentin learned which plants were edible and which were not. A woman found a book in the luggage, showing them how to clean animals and track them. An older man taught the rest of them how to navigate by stars and how to make signs to tell people where to go. Another man helped teach them how to build huts. The last woman helped to cultivate some wild crops she found; potatoes, carrots, and barley.

The month was rather productive, with only six mouths to feed. They smoked fish and salted meat, storing it in a carefully built hut. August whizzed past, leaping straight into September. Erin was pleasantly surprised when she learned how to catch crabs with little injury and took mussels and mollusks from the shallows. September and October were mostly resigned for storing food.

September eighteenth was when the pilot from the plane struggled into their camp, faceplanting into the sand right in front of Erin. Terrified, she pulled him into the camp and called for help. Skye, the woman who learned how to track animals, hurried over and pulled him into what was deemed the medical hut, where herbs and modern medicine alike lined a makeshift shelf and three cotton cots were shoved against the wall. Skye helped her pull the man onto one of the cots as Quentin entered and pushed them both aside to look at the man.

"He's just dehydrated and starving," he told the other two after a tense moment of silence. "I can give him food and water once he wakes. You can leave now," Skye and Erin gave each other a look, then left, searching for Richard, the star navigator. They found him with Terrance, the builder, and Lacy, the farmer woman, chatting about old times as they scaled and smoked fish.

"The missing pilot's here," Skye blurted excitedly. "Quentin's attending him and he's really sick, but he's here," The older woman smiled widely, flinging her arms around Richard. Erin had quickly realized that the two were married, both from their actions and their rather loud monthly rendezvous.

"We might get off the island?" Terrance asked, blue eyes wide. His Mexican accent was stronger in this moment.

"If he survives," Erin cut in. "He was in terrible condition. He might not survive the night," The man's face fell, and a tingle of regret slunk up her spine. She forced herself to shrug apologetically.

It would turn out the pilot's name was Oliver and according to Quentin, he had slipped into a coma just after he'd collapsed. Hopefully, he'd wake by the end of the week. Meanwhile, the rest of them hunted, fished, and reaped the product of their crops.

The weeks passed. Oliver awoke, eyes wide and terrified, speaking in Italian while Quentin shoved food and water down his throat. Skye and Richard were soon expecting a child, which was no surprise. It was common knowledge that two of their five children had been on the plane with them and had died in the crash. The other three were still in America; Skye was sad that she would miss her daughter's wedding.

Lacy and Terrance got closer and eventually acknowledged that they were, in fact, dating. However, they didn't have sex, to Erin's knowledge. If they did, it was where the others couldn't hear.

It was soon late fall as the months tumbled past. All the crops had been safely stored and there was a surplus of food. They built a watchtower and a rabbit hutch; Erin had caught live hares this time and decided that they should have some livestock. Terrance tried to look for wild chickens, turkeys, and pigs.

Time and again, they saw a Coast Guard ship once in a while. Erin and Quentin always kept a signal fire or something burning in the watchtower, just in case. However, the ship never came closer to the island - Lacy suspected that they were simply doing recon before jumping headfirst into the island, due to the storms that bombarded the island.

Erin found some paper in the ruined plane and used charcoal from the fires to make a map; a rough sketch of the outline of the island, then the east beach, which they were on. She marked the two plane parts and anything else she could remember. She edged out into the forest every day to mark down things on the map. Then, she painstakingly copied it and gave one to each person. Terrance and Lacy added to it, marking down where flocks and herds of wild animals were and where wild vegetables and grains were.

They survived the winter without a hitch and the common allergies of spring began to appear in everyone except Erin; she only had a stuffy nose. Skye's stomach bloated with pregnancy; Erin had to admit that the older woman was glowing. Everyone was careful to make sure Skye's baby would be healthy - stocking up on medicinal plants and bandages and the like. Lacy's mother and grandmother had been midwives in Mexico before moving to Texas, and even there they had been midwives, so Lacy knew quite a bit about it.

Erin wondered what her brother was doing as she peered out into the ocean. Another storm was brewing - the fourth of the spring. Hopefully, it wouldn't be bad. She knew that the storms would come fewer and fewer during the summer before starting up again in the fall and winter. /Monsoons,/ she mused to herself, looking down at her rope that she was making. It wasn't a thick rope - just enough to make a rope ladder to make climbing the watchtower easier.

She'd been working on it all winter and had to scrap it three times. It had been hard to get materials for it during the winter. Erin sighed as lightning cracked across the sky and thunder rattled in her ears. It was easy to forget the helicopters in the ocean, but it returned in her nightmares. Skye waddled past, carrying a basket filled with mollusks. Erin eyed her large belly, wondering if the woman was simply going to explode.

Skye sat down on a rock with a heavy sigh, relaxing for a moment. She then took out her knife and began to shell some of the mollusks. The two women sat in relative silence, listening to the distant thunder and water crashing against the rocks. Skye began to shift on her rock uncomfortably, then put down her knife and the mussel she had been holding. Her hand rested on her stomach as she grimaced.

Erin looked up, concern evident on her face. "Are you alright?" She asked worriedly, placing her ladder down. That was when she noticed the dark spot spreading on the older woman's skirt. Erin muttered a soft swear, then moved to help her stand.

"My water broke," Skye said cheerily, arm carefully looped over Erin's neck. "We should probably head over to my hut," Erin helped the woman hobble to the small, squat wooden building, leaving her to lay down on the bed. The other woman hurried out to find Lacy. She found the dark-skinned woman cutting lumber.

"Come quickly!" Erin blurted. "Skye's water broke!" Lacy frowned. Even Erin knew that it was almost a month too early, but they'd have to deal with what they got. The women moved to the hut, passing Richard in their hurry. He seemed to gather the idea of what was happening, dropped whatever he was carrying, and pelted to catch up with them.

Lacy entered, followed by Richard. After several moments, the woman left, turning to face Erin. "She'll start to give birth in a couple hours. You should probably find Quentin to help me," she told her. Erin nodded and turned. She ran south, grabbing Quentin from his hut. Oliver watched them, eyes wide.

"What's going on?" The two men asked in unison. Oliver's voice was both confused and puzzled. ( _Confuzzled,_  some small part of Erin giggled) Quentin's was strong and concerned. They exchanged a look of surprise before turning back to the young woman.

Erin sucked in a breath and looked between the two. "Skye is having her baby," she told them seriously.

Quentin took off running.

* * *

 

Skye had a little girl she named Robin, after the birds that had been chirping outside. Luckily the girl was in perfect health with no visible physical defects. Erin was glad that no one had died during the birth; that would have been bad for everyone, and likely lowered morale.

In other news, Terrance found some goats, wrestled the lead ram, and took about a third of the herd, including several rams. He and Oliver quickly built a pen while Erin and Lacy watched the goats. Then, all four of them gently moved the herd into the pen.

The rabbits had not done well. The two parents had died during the winter, leaving a litter of six little ones to take care of. Half of those died, leaving only three strong enough to live. Erin had decided that they should be free, and let them out into their natural habitat, making look like a storm had wrenched the wire cage door open. Sometimes they returned and ate some weeds before hopping away.

Erin glanced around the campfire, watching Skye care for her daughter and Richard hovering protectively nearby. Lacy was half-asleep on Terrance's chest. She glanced over at Oliver and Quentin, who smiled shyly at her, crossing his arms.

"It might take years," she whispered to no one and everyone. "But I think we're going to get off this island.

* * *

Five years passed, with seemingly no rescue in sight. Robin became a toddler, curious about everything and everyone; she grabbed at the goats and butterflies and any other insect. She continuously attempted to eat everything she came across, even if it was detrimental to her health.

Lacy had also become pregnant, giving birth to a son on the second year. She had named him Thomas, after her father. She and Terrance had a makeshift marriage a year after Tom's birth with Oliver as the pastor and Erin as her maid of honor. Quentin was Terrance's first man and Robin the flower girl. Overall, it was a cute, warm event.

Erin leaned back in her chair, watchful eye on Robin and Thomas as they played in the sand. She spotted a red and white ship on the horizon and waved to Quentin, who was lighting their last flare and setting a signal fire with it. It was dusk, so the flames lit up the sky with ease.

The ship approached and for the first time in many years, no storm was visible. Three smaller ships came closer and everyone gathered on the beach. "Who that?" chirped Robin, gripping the hand of her mother, who smiled.

"That, my little bird," Skye said gently. "Is our way home," Robin blinked wide eyes at her mother and chattered unintelligibly. Skye smiled knowingly at the child.

The ships beached themselves, then allowed Lacy, Skye, and the two children to board the first one. Then it was shoved away into the sea, and then Quentin, Terrance, and Richard got on the second. Erin watched the two become more and more distant.

A hand fell onto her shoulder and she looked up into Oliver's face. "Let's go," he said gently. A smile played on her lips as her mind played through memories of the nearly six years on that island.

"Let's," she agreed and stepped into the boat. The overcast broke and sunlight poured out over the island.


End file.
